Many students living in and around Hatfield have faced multiple power and water outages during the semester one exam season. However, these outages are not a new problem. According to Moneyweb, January to May 2025 saw an average of 4 600 electricity interruptions per month. These outages are caused by cable theft, vandalism, ageing infrastructure, and illegal connections, as well as scheduled maintenance periods. The metropolitan cannot be exclusively blamed for the damage to substations and cables caused by crime, which is a nationwide problem. However, the municipality is frequently criticised for its slow response times and lack of preventative measures towards theft and vandalism.
According to monthly dashboards released by the Department of Water and Sanitation, the City of Tshwane has also experienced recurring water shortages despite the dams in Gauteng having been at full capacity for the past few months. The water shortages in the area stem from problems with the supply and transport of water as opposed to a shortage of water in general. Approximately one-third of the district’s water is lost to leaks and damaged pipes every month.
To the municipality’s credit, they are performing maintenance projects on the city’s water and electrical infrastructure, which are designed to alleviate disruptions over time. A statement released by ActionSA mentions how the city’s improved governance has led to increased investment and, in turn, more money is now being put into infrastructure and service delivery. The press statement from April mentions, “Infrastructure delivery continues to accelerate. More than 28 kilometres of pipes have been replaced, over 220 kilometres of roads have been resurfaced, and the procurement of jetpatcher machinery has enabled faster and more efficient pothole repairs.” However, many critics argue that after years of underinvestment and neglect, the city’s efforts can no longer be described as maintenance to prevent future disruptions, but rather as emergency repairs to a crumbling system.
The water and power outages are not only an inconvenience; they also end up affecting students’ academic performances. In a poll shared by PDBY on Instagram, 91% of respondents indicated that they feel the water and electricity outages have negatively affected their academic performance. When the power went out in the middle of the night across Hatfield during exam season, students living in residences nearby walked to Merensky in droves. When the City of Tshwane announced a potential three-day water interruption at the start of June, many students had to use their own money to buy water bottles. Instead of demanding change from the municipality, students merely adapt to the municipal failures, often sacrificing their own finances, time, and comfort to compensate for the lack of resources that should have been provided by the City of Tswane.
It is easy to accept the failures of municipal services as an inevitable reality of living in Hatfield. However, once residents become complacent about not receiving the services they are entitled to, the situation will only worsen. If you experience an outage, report it to the municipality on e-Tshwane.com or call 012 358 9999. If you want to further advocate for yourself and the community, you can always vote in the upcoming municipal and provincial elections or speak up in public consultations and briefings conducted by municipal representatives.
Regardless of how you choose to go about it, remember that it is everyone’s right to demand that the political leaders in power provide the community with reliable access to water and electricity – which is, after all, a basic human right.
